Hotels near Huguenot Memorial Monument, Franschhoek

I always take ages to book a place. Looking at reviews, analyzing pics and checking the guest ratings, location, views, etc. And I usually get it right. Unfortunately this time around a few things slipped through the cracks and we were not 100% satisfied. Location is very good; walking distance to all the eateries and shops in town and the view was great. I think the property was great a few years ago but attention to detail has slipped and the owners are not re-investing or refreshing as often as is required in this market segment. Wear and tear is evident. Staff are doing their best but I don't think they are getting the required support to provide the customer experience that they Could be giving. Carpets in the reception area look worn and are not clean. Furniture in the room was worn out, shower was mouldy: the extraction fan was not working so the lady checking us in told us to open the window if we wanted to shower. That seemed proactive, but why not just get someone to fix the extraction;-). Breakfast was OK, nothing wrong, but also nothing that stood out. Overall, just an average experience.

What a fantastic experience. Far surpassed our expectations, from the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff, to the comfortable accommodation. We arrived to no power in the whole town and some surrounding areas, but didn't have to worry at all. We had a gas stove and gas braai, a fireplace to keep us cozy, and an inverter for TV and WIFI. Whisper was amazing, bringing us matches and wood. The restaurant was closed due to the power outage but reception arranged takeaways from a local restaurant for us. Power was restored that night. The breakfast was amazing. My husband raved about the scrambled eggs and I loved the beef sausages (and I'm super fussy). Our two teens loved the stay as well.

Way too noisy to make for a pleasant stay There were four of us in 2 separate rooms - we all had a terrible night's (rather lack of) sleep. A shame, because it's an attractive building inside & out; really clean; in a great location and (ironically) really comfy beds and lovely pillows and linen. But it is simply way too noisy to be viable as somewhere charging people to sleep. We arrived to the sound of construction noise - in fairness we had been pre-warned about renovations and makes sense to do such work out of season, but maybe not late on a Saturday afternoon. We were all woken up at 3.00 AM by screaming female voices. I assume guests after a good night out and get you can't control your guests' behaviour - but the screaming continued for half an hour, during which time hotel staff should have stepped in to tell them to show some respect to other guests and shut up. Then we were woken again by blaring music just after 6.00 AM. On phoning reception to point this out, we were told they know and it's the staff in the restaurant, who like to play music. It's terrible that it took guests to tell the hotel to tell their staff not to play blaring music at six in the morning. Some of the noise that blighted our stay was out of the hotel's control - but this was totally on them. Quite simply, the hotel staff wanted to listen to blaring music at six in the morning, without any care at all for paying guests, trying to sleep. This is inexcusable and shows utter contempt towards paying guests. The doors need better sound dampers and/or people who care about closing them as silently as possible - most of the slamming doors were early morning, so again I suspect staff not caring at all about the guest experience. And dogs constantly barking from very early morning, in between being woken by screaming and woken by music. This noise absolutely not in the hotel's control - but just added to the general cacophony and resulting sleep deprivation. In summary then not a hotel to book if you want a night's sleep, which is why you book a hotel. Mentioned to reception on check out, but got the sense they didn't care, as money already banked. And that's the really bad/sad part of this. A shame - could be lovely with a bit of consideration, care and a few adaptations.